“You Know That Poor, Crime Ridden Cities Are Run by Democrats, Right?”

“The poorest and most crime ridden cities are led by Democrats, most of whom are also Black. What does that tell you?”

Before we answer that question, let’s go over some facts.

• The highest crime rates are in cities like St. Louis, Detroit, Baltimore, Memphis, Chicago, and Little Rock.
• The mayors of these cities are Democrat and a higher percentage of them are Black than white.
• Higher poverty leads to higher crime rates.
• Black people are poorer than white people.
• The current mayors of these cities did not make Black people poorer than white people — legalized slavery, segregation, discrimination, and the resulting, unaddressed systemic racism did.
• The current mayor of these cities did not create and cannot (alone) resolve systemic racism.
• Since they neither created nor can (alone) resolve systemic racism, the current mayor of these cities cannot be expected to resolve the poverty and crime issues — not without root-focused help.

Now, let’s revisit the comment and question and answer it through the lens of the current situations in Jackson, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Comment and Question: “The poorest and most crime ridden cities are led by Democrats, most of whom are also Black. What does that tell you?”

Citing rising crime, Mississippi’s Republican-controlled House recently passed a bill expanding areas of Jackson patrolled by a state-run Capitol Police force and creating a new court system with appointed rather than elected judges. Both would give state government officials more power over Jackson.

In other words, Jackson and it’s leadership team aren’t doing the job, so it’s the state to the rescue. And yes, Jackson is led by a Black, Democratic mayor (Chokwe Antar Lumumba).

There is a current effort to recall the Mayor of New Orleans, this based mostly on rising crime rates. And yes, the mayor, LaToya Cantrell is Black and Democratic.

This provides so much fodder for the very people who pose the comment and question that peppers this article.